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Titans news and analysis from Tennessean.comSun, 16 Mar 2014 15:26:22 +0000en-UShourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=3.6Gregg Williams named in lawsuithttp://blogs.tennessean.com/titans/2013/07/08/gregg-williams-named-in-lawsuit/
http://blogs.tennessean.com/titans/2013/07/08/gregg-williams-named-in-lawsuit/#commentsMon, 08 Jul 2013 21:51:48 +0000JIM WYATT, The Tennesseanhttp://blogs.tennessean.com/titans/?p=25420Titans defensive assistant Gregg Williams is named in a lawsuit filed by a former NFL player who claims his career ended because of dirty tactics.

Williams was with the Redskins when Barrett Green played linebacker for New York Giants in 2004. Per the Associated Press, Green is suing the Redskins, claiming his career-ending knee injury resulted from a bounty program organized by Williams in which the team’s coaches encouraged players to intentionally injure opponents.

According to Green, his career-ending knee injury came during a game on Dec. 5, 2004 as a result of an “unusual, outrageous and an obvious cheap shot.”

In addition to Williams, the lawsuit also names former Redskins player Robert Royal, the player who hit Green.

The Titans hired Williams as a defensive assistant in February, following his one-year NFL suspension for being the mastermind behind the bounty scandal with the New Orleans Saints. Williams coached with Redskins from 2004-07.

According to the lawsuit, Royal “intentionally lowered his helmet and dove into” Green’s knees “at full speed.” Green had to be helped off the field, and the lawsuit claims the alleged bounty program would have rewarded the hit as “either a ‘knockout’ or a ‘cart off,’” per the lawsuit.

Royal was lined up as a tight end on the play Green was injured, but the lawsuit says he also played defense occasionally and therefore would have been coached by Williams. Green played in one more game after the injury and later underwent surgery to repair a torn ACL. He played in one game with the Giants in 2005 but was cut at the end of the season and hasn’t played in an NFL game since.

]]>http://blogs.tennessean.com/titans/2013/07/08/gregg-williams-named-in-lawsuit/feed/0Tony Dungy offers explanation on bounty claimhttp://blogs.tennessean.com/titans/2012/03/06/tony-dungy-offers-explanation-on-bounty-claim/
http://blogs.tennessean.com/titans/2012/03/06/tony-dungy-offers-explanation-on-bounty-claim/#commentsTue, 06 Mar 2012 16:19:54 +0000JIM WYATT, The Tennesseanhttp://blogs.tennessean.com/titans/?p=18511In a text message, former Colts Coach Tony Dungy provided an explanation on why he accused the Titans of putting a bounty on quarterback Peyton Manning. Dungy told ProFootballTalk.com he suspected the Titans ran a bounty program similar to the one that has the Saints in deep trouble with the league.

“I really don’t want to talk about it with a lot of people in different cities where it might have gone on,” Dungy said in a text. “I base my comments about (Tennessee) on what I was told by guys who played for me and the Titans. And their story was similar to what you’re hearing from these other players.”

Dungy declined to offer any further details.

Dungy, who coached the Colts from 2002-08, never coached against a Gregg Williams defense when he was in Tennessee. Williams, a former Oilers and Titans and defensive coordinator, left the team before Dungy arrived. He’s now facing discipline from the NFL for admitting to his role in administering a bounty pool in New Orleans.

Jim Mora coached the Colts when the Titans faced Indianapolis in the 1999 playoffs.

In interviews with The Tennessean, former Titans players disputed Dungy’s claim. While players acknowledged the team has had a player-organized “incentives program” to reward big plays – from bone-jarring hits to touchdowns to interceptions to downing punts inside the 10 – they said there’s never been a “bounty” on a player, or a reward offered for injuring another player.

“There was never any talking about hurting another team’s quarterback. That’s a lie. I never heard anything like that. There never was a bounty, that is crazy,” said Reynaldo Hill, who played cornerback with the Titans from 2005-08. “Anybody could say anything about anybody I guess. I could say when he was coaching the Colts they had a bounty out for Steve McNair or Vince Young, but it is not truthful. And if it bothered (Dungy), why didn’t he say anything about it when he was coaching? Why did he wait until something came out about Gregg Williams and the Saints, and then all of a sudden bring it up and say the Titans had a bounty for Peyton?”